Category: Movies

So someone hooked me up with a copy of this movie:

Friday night found Jason sitting in his apartment watching Crimewave (or, as Sam Raimi and the Coen Brothers wanted to call it, XYZ Murders) and he enjoyed it. Think live-action cartoon. There were parts where it felt like Raimi was a little restrained (which I think was one of the issues with the studio that has led to Raimi and crew to practically disown the movie) but there were plenty of parts where you could just tell it was a Raimi/Coen film. If you can find a copy, watch it. Unfortunately, the only DVD release seems to be from China and probably not entirely legal. Ah well.

Awwwww yeah.

Well, I really didn’t expect too much plot wise entering the movie and I certainly wasn’t disappointed there. But most folks had said “Oh, you’ll dig the last 2/3 of the movie.”

So, I sat through the first third thinking, “Eh, it’ll get better.”

And I sat through the second third and thought, “Oh, well, this is a wee bit better.”

And I sat through the third third and was like, “That’s it?”

And I was not impressed. Okay, fight scenes were okay. At least, for the first five minutes. The last ten of each was just a bit much. And not even all fight scenes were badass. All had parts that were pretty sweet, but I don’t think I sat through any one fight scene and was wowed the whole time. Not even the freeway scene wowed me the whole time. Most of it, yeah, but there were some parts that just fell flat.

Was it good? I don’t know, really, but I’m leaning towards no. Certainly not as good as the first movie and most definately not as good as it’s been hyped to me.

Now, as I write this dinner is cooking and Jenn and I are going to partake of said meal while watching the first Matrix again. Maybe I’ll think differently afterwards. Maybe all of my thoughts will be confirmed. I’ll let you all know.

Okay, here’s what I’ve seen this summer and what I think.

• Tomb Raider was crap. Complete and total crap. Even the hot chick couldn’t save it. I’m sorry, I was unfortunately expecting more from this movie, something along the lines of Indiana Jones. Instead I got a pile or crap. The plot was weak, the characters weaker, the dialogue horrible, ugh, ugh, ugh. A little TOO mindless for my liking. I guess that I wasn’t a big fan of the game doesn’t help my opinion either.
• Moulin Rogue was surprizingly good. I’m not a huge Baz Lurhman fan, but his style worked wonders with this movie. Nicole Kidman’s hot. And she’s got a good voice. Ewan Macgregor too, I was surprized. It’s a good, fun movie. If you’re a fan of old musicals, you’ll probably hate it with all it’s modern music and fast movements and all, most big musical fans feel that way. Me, while I like some musicals, this was a good one. Very well done.
• Schreck was a great movie. Oh, man, it was good. Hilarious and well done, the animation was amazing. They actually had to go back and edit the movie to make the Princess look less real for a lower rating (little factoid for ya there). This is cartoony enough for kids to enjoy but to get the real enjoyment of the movie you have to be a bit older. The jokes are great and it’s very well done.
• The Score ruled. Ed Norton’s quickly becoming one of my favorite actors and, hell, Robert Deniro’s in the flick, that’s a good enough draw for me. Toss in Marlon Brando not being creepy and Angela Bassett being herself and you have a great cast on an amazing script. Good movie.
• Planet of the Apes was visually amazing, typical Tim Burton. The script left a bit to be desired, but it was forgivable as it’s a kitchy sci-fi flick and it’s not supposed to make complete sense, it’s fantasy. Charleton Heston’s dissertation against guns was a funny in the context of Heston. You have to see it to believe it.

What’s coming up that I want to see: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (sigh, last J&SB in View Askew movies.), The Lord of the Rings (this is gonna rule!) and a bunch of movies next year, but I’ll talk about them later.